中国一季度GDP增速放缓至6.7% 为七年最低

Last Friday's figures confirm the slowing trend in the world's second largest economy.

上周五公布的数据，证实了中国这一世界第二大经济体经的济增速确实正在放缓。

It is the slowest quarterly growth in the Chinese economy in seven years, but in line with expectations and China's own growth targets. In the final quarter of last year, the economy expanded by 6.8%.

今年，中国第一季度的经济增速下降到了7年以来的最低水平，但是却符合预期及中国自己的增长目标。去年最后一季度，中国经济增速是6.8%。

But there are pockets of growth. Investment in industrial assets and infrastructure registered a surprise jump by 10.7% in the three months to March, when compared to the same period last year.

但中国同样也有增长的金额。截止3月份的今年前三个月，中国对工业资产和基础设施建设的投资有了较大的增加，同比去年增长10.7%。

Consumers also appear to be spending, with retail sales showing a robust 10.5% jump for March. That fits Beijing's attempts in recent years to transform China from an export-led economy to a consumer-led one.

中国人也更愿意消费了。三月份，中国零售业销售额暴涨了10.5%。中国政府近年来一直致力于实现经济从出口导向型到消费导向型的转变，而现在中国消费的强有力增长和这一努力是分不开的。

To tell the truth China correspondents struggle with this country's economic statistics because we don't know how accurate they are and GDP figures are no exception.

说实话，中国的记者一直在和国内的经济统计做斗争，因为他们不能准确地知道经济运行的状况和GDP的数据。

Some provinces and companies are said to exaggerate their production figures to push themselves to the top of the pile but there are also those who are thought to under-estimate their performance so they can attract greater central government support.

据说某些省份和公司会夸大它们的产值，以使得自己能够在排名上更加靠前。但还有一些省份和公司会瞒报它们的收益，以便于向中央政府要求更多的扶持。

For this reason there are economists who measure this country's financial health using electricity consumption figures instead. By this measure the world's second largest economy would still be growing but perhaps at not at such a rapid clip.

鉴于此，一些经济学家通过使用电力消费数据来衡量中国经济的运行状况。通过这一方法，我们可以知道中国的经济仍然在增长，但是也许增长的速度没有以前那么迅速了。

Asia's economic giant is attempting to make up for a loss in traditional production and exports by shifting to a model much more dominated by services and domestic consumption. It is in the process of sacking millions of workers and looking for somewhere else to place them.

中国正在进行经济转型，将减少传统产业，并转变以出口为导向的旧经济模式，转而大力发展服务业，建立一个以国内消费为导向的新经济模式。这一经济转型过程将会使数百万工人失业，而且政府必须妥善安置这些失业的工人。

This might be the correct thing to do in the long run - the government would argue that it is working to eventually deliver more sustainable growth - but, in the short term, what it means is more pain to come.

从长期来看这个决定是正确的，中国政府认为转型后的经济模式将最终带来更多的可持续性增长。但是从短期来看，经济转型将带来更多的阵痛。